Apparatus for refrigeration



Juily 15 1924.

F. A. WARDENBURG APPARATUS FOR REFR IGERATI ON Filed Aug. 7, 1920 7 l I I l I I l I I l i l I l Patented .ly 15, 1924. f

FBEDWG A. WENBUBG, OE

EOTORB CORPORATION, 03 DETROIT, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

Application filed August a-isao. enial no. sore.

To an whom it may camera:

Be it known that I, Fnnonmo A. WARDEN- BURG, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Wilmingtomcount of New Castie, and State of Delaware, have invented. certain new and usefillLl mprovements in Apparatus for Refrigeration, of which the following isa full, clear, concise, and exact description, such as will enable-others skilled in the art to which the invention relates to make and use the same, reference being made therein to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

The invention relates to refrigeration and has for one of its objects the maintenance of a uniform temperature within the food compartment of a refrigerating device.

Another object of the invention is the maintenance of a refrigerating chamber at a temperature below that of the temperature of the food compartment in order to ensure the proper amount of circulation of the air of the food compartment through the chamber, tomaintain the compartment at a predetermined temperature.

A still further objected the invention is the maintenance ot a chamber containing the refrigerating unit at such a constantlow temperature as to insure a freezing temperature in receptacles within recesses in the refrigerating unit and at the same time maintaining an associated cooling chamber at a constant higher temperature.

Another object of the invention is the maintenance of the refrigerator, chamber and cooling compartment at diderent predetermined temperatures by means of a dual control system.

These and other objects may be accomplished by the device illustrated on the drawing, in which,

Fig. 1 is a vertical section of a refrigerator with a diagrammatic showing of the refrigerating mechanism, and

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view of the electric switch with the thermally controlled device for operating the same.

On the drawing, the reference numeral 1 designates a refrigerator cabinet, the top, bottom and side walls of which are insulated in the usual manner. The numerals 2 "and 3 designate food compartments which may oelucn.

.-.--oro1t, nmw Assmnon. 'ro GENERAL be considered as being separated by the parper portion of. the compartment 2. It is not necessary that this chamber be located within the compartment, but it is necessary that there be a communication between the chamber and the compartment to provide a passage for the cooling medium for the compaent.

Located within this chamber 6 is what might. be termed the refrigerating unit which consists, in the form illustrated, of a brine tank 17 in which are located the expansion coils 18, as will presently appear. This tank is so located that the cooling medium or fluid, which in the device illustrated is the air withing the compartment and chamber, may come in contact with the surthe chamber '8 that the cooling fluid for the food compartment when circulating through this chamber passes around and about the said tank. e chamber 6 has an opening 7 in one side wall communicating with the upper portion of the compartment 2, and an opening 8 in the lower portion of the chamber 6, as for example, in its bottom wall communicating with the compartment 3.. The air in the compartment 2 circulates through the opening 7 about the refrigerating unit 17, through the opening 8, chamber 3 and opening 5 into the compartment 2, thus completing the circuit.

The motor, by means of the compressor, delivers the compressed refrigerant to the condenser and from there it is forced past an expansion valve, not shown," into the pipe 21 and delivered to the expanding coils 18 which extend up and about the drawers or receptacles 19 located within recesses or openings '20 within the. brine tank, and from thence it is drawn back to the compressor through the pipe 16, in the usual manner, all as is well understood in the art.

The refrigerating chamber is maintained between certain predetermined temperatures by means of a thermostat which controls the operation of the motor. The thermostat is so arranged that when the temperature within the refrigerating chamber rises above a predetermined maximum it starts the motor which operates in the well-known mane nor to lower the temperature, and when the It is thrown in and out of operation by means of any well known form of automatically controlled device.

One form of controlling device is shown diagrammatically in Figure 2. It consists of a thermostat 22 located somewhere within the chamber 6. It is preferably located within the brine tank so that the temperature of the source of refrigeration itself controls the operation of the thermostat. Any form of thermostat may be employed. The one shown consists of a bulb which is adapted to containan expansible fluid. This bulb has a tube to the lower end of which is connected a longitudinally expansiblecorrugated member 23 called in the trade a sylphon. To

the other end of the member 23 is attached a lever 24: having an adjustable weight. 25 secured on one end thereof. The lever 24 is pivoted at 26 and has the arm 27 r1g1dly attached to its free end. A spring 28 has one end secured to the lower end of the lever 27 and has its other end secured to a link conductor 29 pivoted to the conductor post 30 which is in communication with an electrical wire 36. The link conductor is adapted to close the electrical switch by coming in engagement with the contact point 31 connected to an electrical wire 37, which is accomplished with a snapping action when the sprin 28 is lowered past dead center by the lowering of the arm 27. Similarly, the link contact 15 snapped away from the contact 31 when the arm 27 moves the spring upward past dead center. A. stop 32 limits the movement of the link 29 in the opposite direction.

In order to maintain a constant temperature within the cooling compartment regardless of fluctuations of temperature within the refrigerating chamber a valve is employed in some portion of the air circulating system. Moreover, in order to freeze ice within the receptacles 20 in the brine tank 17 the temperature of this tank must be kept at a low temperature. But lowering the temperature of the brine tank would necessarily result inlowering the temperature in the cooling or food compartment unless a valve menses be employed. As shown, a valve is em loyed in the opening 8. Any suitable form oit valve may be employed as for example, a butterfly valve 9. lit is pivoted at 10 to the side edges of the opening 8. The air in the cooling or food com artment circulates through the openings 5, gand 8 when the valve 9 is open.

The valve 9 is-controlled by the operation of a thermally controlled device located at any convenient point within the food compartment. As shown, the thermostat 11 located in the compartment 2 is connected to a lever 12 which is pivoted to a support 1?. The other end of the lever 12 is pivoted to a link M which is in turn pivotally connected to the'valve in such a way that when the temperature within the food compartment rises above a predetermined oint the action of the thermally controlle device, which may be a bimetal thermostat, as shown, will cause the valve to open to permit the circulation of the air in the food compartment through the chamber 6. The air or cooling medium will continue to circulate through the cooler chamber 6 .until the temperature of the cooling medium in the food compartment falls to a predetermined point, when the valve will again be closed by the thermostat. It is understood thatthis o ening and closing of the valve may take p ace instantaneously and intermittently but, as shown, it takes place gradually as the temperature afi'ects the thermostat. This gradual opening and closing of the valve 9 insures maintaining the food compartment at approximately a constant temperature. As soon as the temperature within the food compartment rises above a predetermined point, this valve opens slightly and permits some of the cold air to pass down into the food compartment, thus maintaining it at a constant temperature. In other words, as the temperature gradually rises within the compartment the valve will gradually open to permit morecold air from the chamber to pass into the compartment to compensate for this rise in temperature.

It will be noted that the opening 7 is located above the bottom of the brine tank. While I have shown the opening 7 as being located above the level of the top of the brine tank, it is understood, that it may be located at a lower level. When the valve 9 is closed, the cold air will collect in the chamber 6 and completely immerse that portion of the brine tank below thev openi'n which in the form shown would be the who e tank, before it runs over into the compartment 2 through the opening 7. This is an important feature of the invention, because it makes it possible to maintain the temperature of the chamber 6 considerably below that of the food compartments, which is necessary in order to freeze water or other considerable saving of ice.

erating agency the employment of the thermally controlled valve 9 would result in a It will be appreciated, that by this arrangement, the foodv compartment may be maintained at approximately a uniform temperature because the valve 9 is held open y the thermostat at various degrees depending on the variations .of temperature within the compartment, and since the thermostat will respond positively and readily to fluctuations of temperature, it follows that the operation of the valve will readily respond to the temperature changes withinthe cpmpartment, with the result thatthe varlations of temperature within the food compartment will be confined to much narrower limits than would be possible were the controlpf the motor alone depended on to accomplish this result.

It will also be apparent that by this arrangement the refrigerating unit and consequently the receptac es 20 can be maintained at a lower temperature than would be possible without this valve. As a result of this construction a greater difference in tempera ture between the chamber containing the refrigerating unit and the food compartment can be maintained than would otherwise be possible because the thermostat'for controlling the motor may be set to operate at considerably lower temperatures than the thermostat for controlling the temperature within said compartment.

In the operation of the device, when the temperature of the brine in the tank rises I above a predetermined point, the thermostat all will close the circuit and start'the motor.

en the brine cools down to a predetermined temperature the thermostat will open the electrical circuit and stop the motor. As

' the food compartment becomes warmer the thermostat 11 will gradualy open so as to keep the food compartment at almost an exact uniform temperature. The valve 9 in itsoperation will also insure maintaining the com partment 6 at a temperature below that of.

the food compartment and thereby materially assist in the freezing of water and other substances placed within the receptacle 19.

It will be understood that various changes may be resorted to in the form, construction, composition and arrangement of the several parts without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention; hence I do not wish to limit myself strictly to the structure herein set forth.

I claim:

1. In a refrigerating device, a cooling compartment, a refrigerating chamber having openings communicating with said compartment for the circulation of air therethrough, a refrigerant system including a refrigerating unit within said chamber and .a motor for supplying said unit with a refrigera'nt, a switch for said motor, means controlled by the temperature within said -unit for operating said switch and means controlled by the tem ra-ture within said compartment for regu laing the circulation of air through said chamber, substantially as shown and described. v

2. In a refrigerator, a cooling compartment, a refrigerating chamber having openings for circulation of air in said 'compart ment, a refrigerant system including a refrigerating unit within said chamber, a Y

motor for said system, means controlled by the temperature of said unit for controlling the operation of said motor, and means controlled by the temperature of said compartment for stopping the circulation of air through said chamber when the temperature within said compartment falls below a predetermined minimum, substantially as shown and described.

3. In a refrigerator. a cooling compart ment, a refrigerating chamber having openings at different levels for circulation of air in said compartment, a refrigerant system, a motor therefor, thermostat means within said chamber for controlling the operation of said motor, and means controlled by the temperature of said compartment for closing one of said openings when the tempera ture within said compartment falls below a.

predetermined minimum.

a. In a refrigerating device, a cooling compartment, a refrigerating chamber having openings communicating with said compartment for the circulation of air therethrough, a refrigerant system including a refrigerating unit within said chamber and a source of power for supplying said unit with a refrigerant, control means for said source of power, means responsive to the temperature within said refrigerating chamber for operating said control means, and means responsive to the temperature within said compartment for regulating the circulation of air through said chamber, substantially as shown and described.

5. In a refrigerating device, a cooling 1 regulating the circulation of air through said chamber, substantially as shown and described.

6. In a refrigerator, a cooling or food compartment, a heat insulated refrigerating chamber having openings therein at difl'erent levels, a closure for the lowermost of saidopenings, means controlled by the temperature within said compartment for operating said closure, a motor, a refrigerant system operated by said motor, said system includinga header within said chamber, and means operated by the temperature within said chamber for controlling the operation of said motor, substantially as shown and described.

neonate 7. In a refrigerator, a food compartment,

a cooling chamber provided with openings closure for the lowermost of said openings, Q

means controlled by the temperature within said compartment for operating said closure, a brine tank in said chamber, a refrigerant system, a motor therefor, said system including a header associated with said brine tank, and means in said tank controlled by the temperature therein for controlling the startin and stopping of said motor, substantia ly as shown and described.

In testimony whereof ll atlix my signature.

F. A. WARlDlENlBlUlRtG. 

